Dirty Jobs

Have you ever been in a stinky place? I have. Some places-- some situations-- "stink to high heavens," as your Great Aunt Mildred might say. They make us uncomfortable, such that a bad smell is used in English to describe situations which have nothing to do with our olfactory senses, but offend our sense of morality or legality. If something just doesn't feel right, or you sense something is wrong, but you can't quite place what is wrong, exactly, you might say it is "off"-- just like that expired sandwich meat you pulled from the fridge after returning from a long vacation.

Peter found himself in such a place, when he was ministering in Joppa. Acts 9:43 tells us that he stayed "for some time" in the home of a tanner named Simon. Most of us in the comfortable US haven't been to a traditional tannery, but I visited one in Morocco. The hides are moved from vat to vat full of different chemicals and solutions that transform them from a decaying animal skin fit to be thrown away, into something useful and even beautiful. But I'm telling you, the place STINKS. There is an old English saying that someone "was so poor they didn't have a pot to piss in." This is because medieval families used to sell their urine to the tannery because human urine was used in the tanning process. The family would gather around and urinate into the pot so they could sell it to the tanner down the road. (Every little bit helps, right?). This place smelled every bit as bad as boiling urine, with a host of other delightful smells. It was an experience!

So Peter was staying with Simon the tanner for a while, and Acts 10:6 notes that his house was "by the sea." (I can't prove this, and maybe salt water was part of the tanning process, but my personal theory was that it was situated in hopes that the breeze coming in off the water would carry away the smell a bit, making life a little more bearable.) While Peter was staying there, do you think he spent his time lying on a couch while a nubile slave girl hand-fed him grapes and pitted dates? No, he pitched in. He got his own hands dirty and smelly. I don't really think God gave him a time frame of how long he would be there. He had just been traveling around the country and ended up ministering in Joppa. God started doing amazing things there, so he stayed. Acts 9:40-42 tells us:

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. The he called the believers and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord...

While Peter was getting his hands dirty, something even more incredible happened. Acts 10 tells us that an angel appeared in a vision to a devout Roman Centurion named Cornelius and told him his prayers had been heard and to send for Peter. The angel even told him where in Joppa to find him. Cornelius sent one of his soldiers and a couple of servants to fetch Peter, and sat down to wait. The next day as they approached the city, Peter was praying and saw an unexpected vision.

He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."

The voice came to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."

God told him not to hesitate to go with them. Why? Because his natural inclination was to hesitate. I would have. Rome was an occupying power, and a Roman officer was "requesting" he come by the station, a day's walk away, and had sent three goons to collect him. (Am I in trouble?) And so God reassured him. Sometimes God presents us with uncomfortable situations-- with uncertainty-- and asks us to trust Him. Peter was confronted with a series of uncomfortable situations. A smelly home and workplace, a vision from God which went totally against his theology, being summoned by a Roman official, a long walk with strangers, and a public speaking engagement in a room full of the enemy. Even though it was against Jewish law for him to associate with foreigners or even visit them (Acts 10:28), God brought him to this place to speak with this house full of people. Those people.

Peter fairly exploded with this good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you come from-- if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel-- that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again-- well, he's doing it everywhere, among everyone..." Acts 10:34-36 (The Message)

The Gentiles-- spiritual outsiders-- were in. God was telling them through Peter that the door was open to them also. The Jews thought they were the only ones God loved, the only ones God cared about, and that they could preserve (and demonstrate!) their holiness by not associating with the filthy Gentiles. But no, all were invited. God's door was open, even to people that didn't look or act like them at all.

Maybe God has you in a smelly situation. Maybe you have a dirty job, and you carry the stench around with you. Or maybe other smells mask the odor but the work itself is nasty at times. (Nursing comes to mind, and parenting. A friend of my sister-in- law related how one of her twins ate his brothers excrement, and then laughed and belched in her face.) Maybe God having you in this smelly situation is preparing you for the next assignment. (Maybe your life stinks, but this nasty process is producing something really beautiful?)

Pitch in while you wait, and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.

What beautiful thing is God turning you into?